Piggyback

A review written for the Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange by Bob Gottlieb (taoboy@cox.net)

Every now and again you hear an artist that just pulls you up short, stops you dead in your tracks, like being on a top flight cutting horse that can stop on a dime, rollback and give you a nickel in change, Matt Andersen's voice did that to me the first time I heard it. He is the whole package and can play guitar, write relevant songs and present the songs in a way that will just bring you to a standstill you and make you listen up, just check this YouTube video. Now you are saying wait a minute this is a disc by Matt Andersen and Mike Stevens; well the disc came to me because of the effect that Matt had when I first heard him and started investigating who the guy is, which is what led me to this. And, so we are clear, Mike Stevens is a renowned harmonica virtuoso known mostly in Bluegrass and Experimental music circles more than holds up his end of the partnership on harmonica, songwriting and production. Just please forgive the excess on Matt as he is the one that drew me into this.

Mike Stevens and Matt Anderson wrote the twelve songs on this disc and there are some gems here that have a way of stretching the tension created between their respective instruments. There are times when you don't realize the sound is created by just guitar, both as a lead and rhythm instrument, and the harmonica wizardry of Mr. Stevens and the vocals of Mr. Andersen. The songs are in a variety of tempos that reflect in the emotions of each. There is the beautiful love song Hold Me With Both Hands, and the wonderful interplay of both instruments and voice in the Livin' In Sarnia that creates a pressure that is essential to the song. This is a disc that is going to fill you in every way; there are not often discs that fit together as a whole as well as this one does. It is going to put a smile on your face and have you tapping your toes if you're not actually up and dancing.